HC Deb 04 May 2004 vol 420 cc1401-2W
Helen Southworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evaluation has been made of the ideal skills mix of the Board of the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC); what the selection criteria are for members of the board how and by whom appointments are made; what contribution CCLRC has made to implementation of the recommendations of the North West Science and Daresbury development group; what input CCLRC has made to the North West Science Strategy; and what targets and milestones have been set by CCLRC to progress the strategy. [168584]

Ms Hewitt

A number of evaluations have been made of the template for Council membership in recent years, but, in terms of skills, the basic mix of academic user and industry representation has remained unchanged. Last year the number of members was increased to include a greater number of independent industry or user representatives. We intend to keep the template more generally under review. The Minister for Science makes all appointments to the Council on my behalf in accordance with the requirements of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This is a competitive process overseen by a panel with independent members who recommend candidates who best fit the advertised role and person specification, drawn up in the light of CCLRC's assessment of its needs for expertise.

The CCLRC and the OST have invested £6 million and £8 million respectively, to progress the Energy Recovery LINAC project, providing the underpinning technology and design for a Fourth Generation Light Source (4GLS). This activity is based mainly at the CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory. CCLRC collaborated closely with the North West universities regarding the recently announced PPARC/CCLRC-supported Cockcroft Institute for Accelerator Science, also to be located at Daresbury. As a result, the CCLRC will co-locate its related accelerator science and technology research activity with the Cockcroft Institute. The results of a CCLRC/North West Development Agency joint-funded analysis of the opportunities for commercial exploitation of Daresbury Laboratory research, and the options for a proposed mixed-economy Daresbury Campus, have now been received. The latter activity will involve the North West Universities and industrial partners with the CCLRC, and the participants are seeking to establish a new "North West Science Partnership" by summer 2004.

Helen Southworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what targets the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) has set for the commercial exploitation of intellectual property to stimulate regional growth in the North West; what CCLRC's vision is for collaboration with the North West Science Council; and how the CCLRC intends to work with the North West Regional Development Agency to generate regional economic growth. [168630]

Ms Hewitt

CCLRC seeks actively to develop exploitation routes for its research via its totally owned commercial exploitation company, CLIK, which was established in April 2002. Five new CLIK-generated high technology companies are already in the final stages of formation, three of which are based on research and associated technologies developed at the CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory. The CLIK business plan is based on the formation of three new CCLRC spin-out companies per year for each of the next five years.

CCLRC has interacted closely with the activities of the North West Science Council (NWSC) since its inception. The Director of the Daresbury Laboratory has been a member throughout this period, and he and his staff also maintain close relations with the NWDA. This has led already to the construction of two new NWDA-supported high technology buildings immediately adjacent to the DL site, on land previously owned by CCLRC, in order to provide easily accessible space for new high technology, spin-out companies and associated business support advisers. The CCLRC/NWDA interaction has also already led to the successful implementation of a number of major new joint-funded projects, which are or will be based at the DL/NWDA Campus including SUPERSTEM, the Energy Recovery Linac project and the new Cockcroft Accelerator Science Centre. Opportunities for new nanotechnology/nanoscience activities and also a new Centre for Instrumentation are also currently being explored.